Kim Clijsters has confirmed she is coming out of retirement to play on the WTA tour thanks to her preparations to partner Tim Henman against the husband-and-wife team of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf at Wimbledon on 17 May, when the new Centre Court roof will be tested.

"It all started with preparing for the gala match at Wimbledon, all pretty laid-back," the 25-year-old Belgian said. "I liked it that much I was on to my training schedule from my pro days and then the hunger for more comes automatically.

"I am looking at this as a second career, not as a comeback as I am now in a situation where not everything revolves around tennis 24 hours a day. I have asked for wildcards for Cincinnati, Toronto and the US Open, that's all for the moment. I want to see if I can still do it."

The 25-year-old retired in May 2007 and married the basketball player Brian Lynch before giving birth to a daughter. She has been training in at the tennis centre in Bree, north of Brussels, in recent weeks.

Clijsters won the 2005 US Open, 34 singles titles and held the top ranking in the world for a total of 19 weeks.

Her coach during that period, Marc Dehous, believes she can return to those glories. "Apart from the Williams sisters, she doesn't have to fear anybody. Especially not [Dinara] Safina or [Vera]Zvonareva," he said. "Her toughest opponent, Justine Henin, is not there any more. When she has played a few tournaments, she'll be really back.

"When Martina Hingis came back, people saw her coming back into the top 20. She reached the top 10. Kim Clijsters has more weapons .

"At the end of her career, she grew tired of the circuit, she wanted to become a mother. Today she has achieved her wish. She trains for pleasure. If she is motivated, she'll come back. Nobody can say how she's going to adapt."